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The second edition of Effective Writing in Psychology helps users produce crisp scientific communication, form concise unambiguous arguments, and render technical information clear and comprehensible. The new edition incorporates the latest guidelines contained within the 6th edition of the APA Publication Manual. Clear guidelines on effective writing illustrate how to generate strong and compelling prose, even when the writing is not aimed at a research audience Incorporates changes to the guidelines contained in the 6th edition of the APA publication manual Includes material on how to adapt APA style for poster presentations using PowerPoint, and for oral presentations Contains a new section on using the Internet to present research papers and a new chapter on conducting a literature search, to guide students through databases, keywords, sources, and connections between articles Highlights methods for selecting a research topic and organizing papers Features a sample manuscript showing common deviations from correct APA style and a version demonstrating appropriate use of APA style

Bernard C. Benis, PhD, is Professor and Chair of Psychology at Ithaca College, New York. He recently received the Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award from the American Psychological Foundation. He is also the author of Research Methods: A Tool for Life (2009) and co-author with Maureen McCarthy of Research Methods and Statistics (2012). He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Eastern Psychological Association. Agatha M. Beins is Assistant Professor of Women's Studies at Texas Woman's University. She co-edited Women's Studies for the Future: Foundations, Interrogations, Politics with Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy (2005), and has published articles in Women: A Cultural Review and Sinister Wisdom. She is also part of the editorial collective for the journal Films for the Feminist Classroom.

Preface to the Second Edition

p. ix

Preface to the First Edition

p. xi

Writing in Psychology

p. 1

Writing in Psychology

p. 2

How Does Psychological Writing Differ from Other Kinds of Writing?

p. 3

Using APA Style

p. 4

Making a Credible Argument

p. 5

Different Types of Communication

p. 6

Effective Communication

p. 8

How to Begin

p. 9

Organizing and Developing Your Ideas and Writing

p. 11

Formulating Your Ideas

p. 13

Identifying Your Focal Question

p. 13

Locating Relevant Sources

p. 16

Recognizing Multiple Viewpoints

p. 19

Ethical Writing

p. 21

Assessing Your Sources

p. 27

The Difference between Primary and Secondary Literature

p. 28

The Difference between Popular and Scholarly Sources

p. 28

Evaluating Sources

p. 31

Evaluating Internet Sources

p. 33

How to Conduct a Literature Search

p. 41

Understanding Library Resources

p. 43

Using Article Databases

p. 49

Using the Internet

p. 51

Using Sources to Find Sources

p. 53

How to Read and Summarize a Journal Article

p. 55

An Overview of the Research-the Abstract

p. 56

Identifying the Issues-the Introduction

p. 57

Understanding What Was Done-the Method Section

p. 57

What Happened-the Results Section

p. 60

What It Means-the Discussion Section

p. 62

Where the Ideas Originated-the References Section

p. 65

Figuring Out What It Means

p. 65

Organizing a Paper

p. 67

Organization

p. 68

Using the Work of Others to Support Your Argument

p. 70

Editing and Revising

p. 75

Mechanics

p. 77

Elements of Style

p. 79

Recognizing the Importance of Grammar and Style

p. 80

Choosing Effective Wording

p. 81

Using Inclusive and Appropriate Language

p. 82

Deciding on the Use of Technical Language

p. 85

Avoiding Common Problems

p. 85

Verb Forms

p. 88

Spelling

p. 89

Specific Word Use

p. 95

Communicating Statistics

p. 97

Why Do We Use Statistics?

p. 98

What Point Are You Trying to Make?

p. 99

Understanding Your Numbers

p. 101

Helping Readers Understand Your Statistics

p. 103

Differentiating Results and Interpretations

p. 106

Preparing APA Format Papers

p. 107

Writing a Thesis or a Term Paper

p. 109

Developing Your Idea

p. 111

Organizing Your Paper Around the Central Questions

p. 114

Finding Different Perspectives About Your Idea

p. 116

Developing the Logic of Your Argument

p. 119

The Introduction Section

p. 123

Introducing the Topic

p. 124

Different Approaches to Starting the Introduction

p. 124

How to Begin

p. 127

Reviewing the Literature

p. 128

Reasons for Reviewing the Literature

p. 128

Clarifying Terms in the Research

p. 129

Introducing Your Research: Generating a Hypothesis

p. 130

The Method Section

p. 133

Participants and Subjects

p. 134

Materials and Apparatus

p. 141

Procedure

p. 143

Design

p. 144

The Results Section

p. 147

Your Hypotheses

p. 148

Deciding What to Present

p. 149

Reporting Significant and Nonsignificant Results

p. 150

Marginally Significant Effects

p. 151

APA Style and Presentation of Your Results

p. 152

Creating Tables

p. 155

Creating Figures

p. 160

The Connection between the Text and the Tables and Figures

p. 164

The Difference between Results and Discussion Sections

p. 166

Some Final Points About Presenting Results

p. 169

The Discussion Section

p. 171

Summarizing Your Results

p. 172

Connecting Different Aspects of Your Results

p. 173

Dealing with Nonsignificant Results

p. 174

Comparing Your Results with Those of Others

p. 175

Stating the Importance and Implications of Your Results

p. 176

Acknowledging the Limitations of Your Study

p. 177

References Citations in the Text and the Reference List

p. 179

Citing References in the Text

p. 180

Citing Sources with Three to Five Authors

p. 182

Citing Sources with Six or More Authors

p. 182

Citing Personal Communications

p. 183

Citing Multiple Sources within Parentheses

p. 183

Order of Citations in the Reference List

p. 184

Using Your Word Processing Program to Create the Citation

p. 184

Examples of How Different Types of References Should Be Laid Out

p. 185

Final Touches: The Abstract and Formatting Details

p. 193

The Abstract

p. 194

Formatting Details

p. 195

Communicating Beyond the Research Paper

p. 215

Creating Poster Presentations

p. 217

Differentiating Visual and Written Communication

p. 218

Reducing the Amount of Information

p. 218

Visual Style

p. 219

Your Behavior: The Ethic of a Poster Session

p. 222

Creating Your Poster Using PowerPoint(r)

p. 224

Giving Oral Presentations

p. 231

The Difference between Oral and Written English

p. 231

Adapting APA Style to Oral Presentations

p. 236

Preparing for Your Talk

p. 236

Creating Graphics for Your Presentation

p. 238

Giving the Presentation

p. 239

Presenting Your Work on the Internet

p. 243

New Capabilities with Internet Publication

p. 244

Using a Word Processor to Create Manuscripts for the Internet

p. 245

Advantages of Internet Publishing Software

p. 247

Publishing Your Poster on the Web

p. 249

Uploading Your Manuscript to the Internet

p. 249

Submitting Your Plan to an Ethics Committee

p. 251

Ethical Standards in Research

p. 251

Writing a Proposal for an Institutional Review Board for Research with Human Subjects

p. 253

Writing a Proposal for the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) for Animal Research